Payday Loan Firms Flee NorthCarolina

RALEIGH, N.C. - (09/30/05) -- Payday loan company QC Holdings saidit is closing its 19 fast cash stores in North Carolina and pullingout of the state that has become hostile to high-rate lenders. Thecompany, which does business as Nationwide Budget Finance, is thesecond payday lender this month to pull up stakes in the state,joining Advance America Cash Centers, after its out-of-state bankpartner said it would no longer finance loans. QC Holdings said itsbank partner had also decided to cease making loans in NorthCarolina, which had led the fight against predatory lending. Stateregulators are poised to decide whether payday lenders can usenationally chartered banks to skirt the state's 36% interest rateceiling. A decision in that case is expected as early as nextmonth. And two years ago, North Carolina passed one of the toughestpredatory loan laws in the country.

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